KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has come under fire for allegedly allowing land acquisition to take place around Kg Baru despite speaking out against it during his stint as opposition leader in 2019.
Some residents of Kg Sg Baru, a neighbourhood within the jurisdiction of the Kg Baru Development Corporation, currently face the bleak prospect of eviction to make way for a mammoth mixed development.
“The government doesn’t have the right to acquire land in Kg Baru for commercial purposes, it is against the law,” Ismail Sabri was quoted as saying by party mouthpiece Umno Online in 2019.
Ismail Sabri was referring to the statement by Khalid Samad, the Federal Territories minister at the time, that if the government failed to reach an agreement with residents of Kg Baru, using the Land Acquisition Act (LAA) 1960 would be considered as a last resort.
However, Khalid contends that the situation some three years later is vastly different because the project mooted during his tenure as minister was led by the government.
“In our case where we wanted to redevelop Kg Baru, it was a government initiative. So obviously the government got involved,” he told The Vibes.
He said the current development plan is led by a private enterprise, thus “there’s no need for the government to get involved”.
Also reminding Ismail Sabri of his earlier statement was Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil who said: “I think the right honourable prime minister should be true to his words while he was an opposition leader and ensure that not an inch of land in Kg Sg Baru is acquired by force.”
In addition to calling for the land acquisition order to be rescinded, Fahmi urged the government to expedite the drafting of a law on urban redevelopment that would specify the thresholds that need to be met in order for redevelopment to be permitted.
Meanwhile, Pejuang’s Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan also took the opportunity to blast the government for being inconsistent as “today they say this, tomorrow they say another thing”.
“This is Umno. Everything is possible for Umno. They can do anything under the sky,” he alleged.
Fishy land acquisition?
While emphasising that his party is willing to work with the government to resolve the issue amicably, Khairuddin expressed concerns over the land acquisition process, claiming that it was “not conducted in a proper way”.
He dubbed the entire situation “very fishy” and cited the example of how the Section 4 and 8 gazettes were issued three days apart.
Under the LAA, a Section 4 gazette informs landowners that their property might potentially be acquired, while the publication of a Section 8 gazette confirms the acquisition.
According to copies of these documents sighted by The Vibes, the Section 4 gazette was dated June 18, 2021 while the Section 8 gazette was dated June 21.
Similarly, Khalid and Fahmi also raised doubts over the legality of utilising the LAA in Kg Sg Baru.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s a misuse of the LAA,” said Khalid with the reasoning that the act was invoked for a private developer and not “for the sake of the public or national interest”.
Fahmi concurred, questioning if a violation of the federal constitution had taken place.
Detailing an individual’s right to property, Article 13(1) states that “no person shall be deprived of property save in accordance with the law” while Article 13(2) states that compulsory acquisition or use of land cannot take place without “adequate compensation”.
Compensation too low
A further point of contention was that the compensation awarded to residents whose land had been acquired was far too low.
Earlier this month, The Vibes had revealed that one flat resident was awarded compensation of RM240,000, some 300% lower than the RM700,000 recommended by a private assessor.
Khalid cautioned that such a low sum might result in Kg Sg Baru residents ending up as squatters, which he says “was their original situation” before the building of the Kg Sg Baru PKNS flats in the 1960s.
Fahmi also chimed in, calling the sum “far too low”.
Considering the strategic location of the land and its proximity to facilities such as a hospital, LRT station, and the Petronas Twin Towers, he said he believes that the compensation ought to be commensurate. – The Vibes, May 28, 2022
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